Spring 2002 has been and gone....Check out Spring's Events....This Page has been archived

Yup, it's hard to believe, but Spring 2002 has been and gone.
What an interesting season it's been!!!! As with our previously stated policy,
we are archiving the Spring 2002 Sub Page to make way for 2003 (now, that's
planning for you!!!!)

So, without further ado: it's onto Spring 2002 at the
Burtons.

Spring is on us again. Yep, as of March 21, 2002, we
have officially survived winter. So, it's time to get the Spring 2002 themes in
and running. Well, as you know, spring time here in Omaha can have many, varied
weather patterns. It is not unusual to have snow, we always have lots of rain,
then there's the odd tornado or three. Plus, to tell the truth, the temperatures
can be up and down like a yo-yo. To put it mildly, the weather here can be very
"interesting".

So, before we even start spring, we are asking the following
questions for Spring 2002 in Omaha, Nebraska:

Will we get snow in spring (i.e., when will the last snow
fall)??? 8"+ of the goddam white stuff. Had to use the
snow blower in March!!!

How much rain will we have this season???
Not enough...almost no rain since early April

How many tornadoes will we dodge for the season???
Luckily, none

What will the highest temperature be (i.e., when can we start
wearing shorts again)??? See Below

What will the lowest temperature for the season be (i.e., how
long will we have to keep our winter coats out)???
Ditto...See Below

All these questions, and many others, will be answered before
the end of spring.

So, what's on the agenda for the Burton's this spring....

March
21, 2002

What a way to greet spring. The temperature here in
Omaha sucked, big time. The daily low was 12.2F while the high got to a whopping
23F. All the time, a 38mph wind was howling through the city. Geez, what a
welcome to Spring!!! But, at least there was no "measurable" snow flying
around!!

March
24, 2002

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.
On the evening of March 24, we received eight (8) inches of snow. All that was
in the forecast was "possible flurries, but otherwise mostly cloudy". Hence, we
had to shovel 8" of "mostly cloudy" off the drive way the next morning.

March
29, 2002

Easter was spent very quietly by the Burton's of Omaha. While
Stephen had good Friday off, Lisa, unfortunately had to work. While she worked
her finger to the bone at school, Stephen caught up with one of his partners in
crime and headed to our local bar and grill for a long, long lunch!!! Hey it's a
dirty job, but someone's got to do it!!!

Apart from that, we just bummed around the house for the rest
of the weekend. Sometime, that's just what the doctor orders!!!

So, after basically doing nothing for a weekend, Easter 2002
was over. Time for Stephen to head back to work, and Lisa to enjoy her well
earned spring break.

April 1
thru April 5, 2002

Spring break. This is more for Lisa than Stephen. Someone has
to work and keep the global economy ticking. For Lisa, it's PARTY TIME DUDE...

From what I gather, Lisa became quite used to being a "lady
of leisure"...she bummed around the house, watched her TV (read daytime TV, read
soaps) and played cards. What a way to spend a week. Stephen's just jealous that
he couldn't do that!!!!

April
15, 2002

Still not quite sure why we included this one is here. This
is the day that every tax payer hates: Tax Day. All tax payers must have their
tax returns either into the IRS or the envelopment must be stamped by today. The
even crazier thing is that 33 million Americans will spend today racing about to
either get filings complete, or file for extensions. All post office's are open
until midnight to accommodate these idiots. The really dumb thing is: this date
DOES NOT CHANGE!!!!. We all know it's coming, year after year. How much brain
power does it take to be a little bit organized (especially with the IRS...the
crowd that brought down Al Calpone). Screw this midnight crap!!!!

So, how did Lisa and Stephen spend the
evening....at our local bar, playing Keno and darts!!!! Again, none of this
midnight stuff!!!!

Here are some photos of our favorite,
local watering hole:

This be the front of the place

This be inside Lunkers

This be the bar area

This be the games area

Another shot of the games area

Rick the Chef, and Pat a Bartender

Helpful staff:

Liddy and Paula

Lisa and I with out retirement bets ...KENO!!!!

Ok, so the place looks pretty empty. We
did get there pretty early...like around 4:30pm.

So, that's how we spent our "Tax Day". No
worries mate....

April 19
thru April 21, 2002

It's our youngest nephews first communion, so Lisa and I are
off to Morris, Illinois, So, on Friday, April 19, Lisa and I headed off
across Iowa to Illinois. Mind you, the weather that day was absolutely
appalling...a nice 42°F with a 20-25mph with (i.e., wind
chill ~ 15°F). Wonderful driving conditions. But, first, we spent the night in Sterling, IL, with
Lisa's folks. Here's the roadmap of where we went:

And so, after a night in Sterling, IL....complete with dinner
and a "quick" session down at the Precinct, it was off to Morris, IL. It's about
a 1&1/2 drive from Sterling, and is basically an outer suburb of Chicago. The
event was Jacob Thuente's first communion, which was held at The Immaculate
Conception Parish Church. Here are some of the photos. As usual, the names are
omitted to protect the guilty and punish the innocent.

Unfortunately, none of the photos does justice to show just
how cold it was that day, The high fir the day was a balmy 31°F,
with a 30mph wind howling all day. This made for wind chills of 5°F. Wonderful
weather...no wonder Chicago is called the windy city (actually, the "wind" has
nothing to do with Chicago being called the "windy city"...but, that's another
story).

Then, it was off to the Firehouse Brewery for lunch (for the
kids) and few restorative cordials (for the adults). Here are some more photos:

After that, we returned to Sterling for a night of
cards...Lisa and her brother Ross really kicked our collective butts. We
couldn't get a trick to go through in Euchre all night. But, that's how it goes.

On the Sunday morning, after church and lunch, it was back on
the road back to Omaha. Man is that one boring road trip!!!! But, overall, the
weekend was very enjoyable. Both Lisa and I were very glad that we made the
trip.

However, because of the boredom associated with driving
across Iowa, Lisa and I have taken to counting what we call "highway anomalies".
These are objects on the road that you don't really expect to see driving across
I80. But, you see them anyway. Here is our count for this last trip.

Object

Description

Cops

Boats

Tow Trucks

Golf Carts

Jet Skis

Cars in Ditches

Houses

Motorbikes

Enroute to Sterling

16

19

3

8

2

1

2

3

Enroute back to Omaha

8

23

1

1

2

2

0

1

By the way, the criteria for the above objects can be found
on our highway oddity
sub-page. This will be an on-going facet of all
our future road trips!!! Hey, we gotta keep the driver entertained...otherwise,
they have a tendency of falling asleep behind the wheel. And, that is a big NO
Besides, it's our web site, and we can post whatever we dam well want!!!

The next "scheduled event" is memorial day. But, I think
we'll be posting again before that...just to give you "gardener types" a
chance to see our "green thumbs" are going.

April
30, 2002

Well, the eventual happened. On April 30, 2002, one of the
owners was laid of from the company he had been associated with for some sixteen
years. I guess we finally got on their radar. Last day was May 10 2002. So, I
finally made it onto their radar.

Can't really complain...in sixteen years, I dodged the bullet
some eighteen (18) times. But, just to prove a point, I was able to get a short
term contract some two days later. Also, it was a good way to get out of a rut
and move onto other things (such as web based businesses, etc). Time to do some
real work. So, Ye Haaa!!

And so, life goes on!!

May 27,
2002

Memorial Day is traditionally a day to have a party. It's the
official start of the BBQ season and, more importantly, the driving season.

The Burton's in Omaha spent a nice, quiet weekend. We grilled
outside a couple of times, caught up with some friends and, of course, went to a
couple of our favorite watering holes. All in all, a very good weekend.

June, 2002

Sorry for the delay in posting spring items here!!!!
Basically, the rest of spring was pretty quiet. Lots of work done, both at home
and getting our new business up and running. Luckily, the fools at the previous
company I worked for didn't see that we were doing all the ground work for this
since last September. Being clear of them is the best thing that ever happened
to the webmaster. Actually getting to do some REAL WORK.

Anyway, a lot of June was also spent at the doctor's. The
webmaster of this site made a new years resolution: get all things medical
either fixed or categorized in 2002. Well, it kind of happened a bit sooner than
this little black duck expected. On July 11, the webmaster of this site
has to have his Gall Bladder taken out. Yikes!!!!! So, that basically takes me
out of the gene pool for a month. Even though it's only an over night procedure,
they say recovery time is some 2-3 weeks after the procedure.

Anyway, that's about it for us here in Omaha for Spring.
We will soon officially switch across to summer. Lots to do...so little time to actually do
it!!!!! Remember, keep on checking back....Now that the webmaster can't go
anywhere, expect things to get updated sooner, faster and more elegantly!!!

But, try and remember July 11 2002....one of us is going
under the knife...

June
21, 2002

This is the last posting of the season. Spring is officially
over, and summer is with us. Mind you, not that the weather has changed to
much in the last few days. And, now for some season statistics

Category

Date

High Temperature

Low Temperature

Coldest Day

March 21, 2002

23°F

12.2°F

Warmest Day

June 2, 2002

93.2°F

71.6°F

Finally, the average high and lows for Spring 2002

Category

Temperature (°F)

Average High Temperature

69.14°F

Average Low Temperature

46.66°F

This will be the last post for Spring 2002. Sorry, there are
no house photos. We kinda figured that you know what the house looks like by
now!!!! So, from now on check out the summer 2002
pages.....

Just for information. This page will be archived in a couple
of weeks...so, still come back and check things out for next year!!!!! And
anything we've forgotten.

As usual, if there are things you wish to comment on, and/or
provide feedback on, use one of the following links: